Valerie Winfield
by Jazzyfizzle98
Summary: After the death of her mother and young sister, Valerie is forced to go and live with her Aunt Sarah and Steve Newlin. But when she meets a certain two thousand year old vampire, Valerie's life is changed forever.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello! This is an idea I have had for a while and I have finally written the first chapter. I love True Blood but I own nothing of it except my original character, Valerie Winfield, who is basically just the niece of Sarah Newlin. Enjoy and please review!**

_Valerie and her mother sing loudly in unison to the Hotel California that blasts on the car radio. They both wear huge smiles as their horribly off tune voices fill the vehicle. In the back seat Valerie's little sister, Lisa, laughs at their silliness so hard that her face begins to turn pink. The song reaches an end and Valerie and her mother join Lisa in her laughter. Valerie stops laughing and hunches over slightly to cough, her throat hoarse from her previous screaming. Her mother takes one hand off the wheel to pat her daughters back gently. Valerie looks up with a smile that quickly falls off her face at the sight of headlights rushing towards her mother's door. Valerie doesn't have time to even open her mouth before the car slams into them. _

_ Valerie sees her mother's head lurch forward before her own head is flung into the window next to her, smashing the glass. The sounds of her families screaming are drowned out by the sounds of crunching metal and breaking glass. As the car rolls violently downhill, everyone inside is tossed around mercilessly. The tumbling finally ends when the car crashes into a thick tree, halting it immediately. Valerie blinks once slowly before slipping into unconsciousness._

_ Valerie wakes up to find herself strapped at the wrists and ankles to a gurney. Around her are many police cars and ambulances, the bright flashing sirens light up the dark road. Valerie turns and her eyes go wide at the sight of her sister's bloody form in a gurney being lifted into the back of an ambulance. Lisa's face and arms are covered in raw swollen gashes and her left eye is extremely swollen and bruised. Despite her mangled appearance, her face looks tranquil._

_ Valerie spots her mother being led off on a gurney just like her sister. As her mother is wheeled in front of Valerie she notices her shallow but steady breathing and she is filled with hope. Valerie closes her eyes and silently prays that this isn't real, that the two people who mean the most to her in the world are okay. Valerie opens her eyes as her gurney is lifted into the ambulance and the doors are slammed closed behind her. _

Valerie shoots upright with a sharp gasp, stirred out of her sleep by the nightmare, or more by her memory. It had been almost a year since the tragic passing of her mother and sister yet Valerie is still constantly woken up at night, remembering the accident that changed her life forever. She is haunted by the image of Lisa's frail seven year old body that had been crushed in the impact and she had been dead before the car had come to a stop. Her mother had survived the initial crash but her lungs had filled with blood on the way to the hospital and she too had died that night.

Valerie forces herself to get out of bed, knowing from past experience that she will not be able to get back to sleep. She trudges into the bathroom attached to her room and groggily washes her face, successfully waking herself up. She looks in the mirror and takes in her reflection with disdain. She is wearing a loose black shirt that shows her lean shoulders and a pair of tight workout shorts. Her dark brown eyes have heavy bags under them and her fluffy brown hair looks a mess but she can't be bothered to fix it.

She decides to head to the kitchen, hoping that a late night snack will take her mind off her vivid memories. As she is walking down the dark hallway she notices that Sarah and Steve's normally locked bedroom door is slightly ajar. Curious, Valerie soundlessly pushes open the door enough to stick her head in. She has never seen the inside of their room before and now she realizes why they are so secretive about it. Valerie is shocked to see Sarah and Steve sleeping in two separate parallel twin beds. Sarah's face is covered in a green cream and she has a pink silk mask over her eyes. Steve is wearing a mint green striped pajama suit topped off with a ridiculous hat with a fluffy ball at the tip of it.

"What the hell?" Valerie wonders at the bizarre sight, "What is this, the 1950's?" Valerie shakes her head and silently closes the door, continuing on her way. She creeps down to the kitchen and makes herself a bowl of frosted flakes. She is about to go back upstairs to her room when Valerie hears the faint sound of a television playing. She follows the noise to the recreation room where a young man reclines on the couch, watching the screen with tired eyes. He notices her standing there with a bowl of cereal and smiles awkwardly.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" He asks. Valerie smiles and shakes her head in response.

"Nah I was already up," She tells him as she sits cross legged on the small sofa adjacent to the couch he is on. They both eye each other curiously and Valerie notices how cute this guy is. He has scraggy blonde hair and a stubbly face. He is sporting a Fellowship of the Sun t shirt and gray sweatpants.

"Couldn't sleep?" He asks her, running his hand through his hair. Valerie can tell that he only does this so that he can discreetly flex his arm, causing her to chuckle.

"You could say that," Valerie answers him vaguely. She eats a spoonful of her cereal and watches the football game that is playing on the television.

"I'm Jason Stackhouse by the way," He introduces himself with a nod.

"I know, I've seen you around," She tells him through a full mouth, "plus Sarah and Steve talk about you all the time. They really like you."

"Really?" He asks with an excited grin.

"Really," Valerie answers with sarcastic happiness. Jason's smile fades away at that and she immediately regrets her abrasiveness towards Jason. "My name's Valerie."

"Oh everyone around here knows who you are," Jason tells her as if she doesn't already know. She mutters something illegible in response.

"What?" Jason asks, leaning forward to hear the young girl better.

"I said oh yeah," she replies, speaking up this time.

"Oh," He responds plainly, relaxing back into the couch. An awkward silence ensues until Jason speaks up. "Hey, um Sarah told me about what happened to your mama and your sister. I lost my parents in a flood when I was real young so I know what it's like to lose the people closest to you."

"Thanks," Valerie says quietly, not sure of what else to say. Jason nods in understanding and Valerie smiles at him. She finishes her cereal and places it gently in the table next to her. Surprisingly, Valerie falls back to sleep, something that has never happened to her before after one of her nightmares. Maybe Jason's kindness had actually distracted her from the haunting images that always flood her mind.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you so much for all the favs and follows! Sorry this chapter is short but I mostly made it just to establish Valerie's relationships with Sarah and Steve. I know this story is starting up slow but the next chapter will probably feature Godric. Please review, I love constructive criticism and advice on how to make the story better! Enjoy!**

Valerie wakes up the next morning with a loud yawn as she stretches her limbs. She is still in the same comfortable chair that she had fallen asleep in the night before. She notices that Jason is gone and assumes that he probably went to go and get breakfast. There is a loud commotion coming from down the hall, signifying that the cafeteria is full.

Hoisting herself out of the seat, Valerie stands and begins making her way up the stairs slowly. She is staring at the ground as she walks so she doesn't notice Steve Newlin standing at the top of the steps. He has happily changed out of his stupid pajamas and he is now wearing a white polo shirt tucked into black dress pants with shiny black shoes

"Good morning Valerie," Steve cheerfully greets her. Valerie looks up surprised to see him, but she doesn't bother to try and return his phony smile. His clown grin has always driven Valerie insane especially since he is always faking it around her. Since the first day she arrived in his home, Steve has resented her and hidden it behind his big pearly whites. "Sarah and I were just about to sit down to breakfast when we found that you weren't in your room." After that he cocks his head to the side as if to express that he is waiting for an explanation as to why she was not in her room this morning.

"Yeah I couldn't sleep," she mutters, looking down at the ground to avoid his beaming face. A conversation with Steve Newlin is not a good way to start the day, now Valerie is already in a sour mood.

"How unsettling, have you been having nightmares again?" He asks. Valerie feels her chest tighten in anger and she clenches her teeth to keep from cursing. She had made the mistake of telling her Aunt Sarah about her nightmares a few days ago. Knowing that Sarah had told Steve about it makes Valerie feel betrayed and furious with her aunt.

"No," she responds icily as if his implication is completely absurd. Steve's smile does not waver at Valerie's obvious anger towards him. Instead, he puts both his hands on her shoulders and gives them a little squeeze.

"Maybe some breakfast will turn that frown upside down," Steve suggests, guiding Valerie down the hall by her shoulders. Steve pushes open the big cherry wood swinging doors that lead into the overly fancy dining area. Inside, is an incredibly long table, packed with a large amount of food that is far too much for just three people to eat. At one end of the table, Sarah sits with a plate of food in front of her. Just like her husband, Sarah is already dressed and she is wearing a pretty yellow sundress with matching heels. She turns and smiles at Steve and Valerie as they enter.

"Morning sweetheart," Sarah says sweetly, "what were you doing downstairs so early?"

"Oh, you know, just watching TV," Valerie answers with a shrug. Steve takes his seat at the other end of the table and Valerie sits in the middle of the table with her back to the doors. She has always hated the length of the table because it made her feel like an unnecessary addition that messed up the balance of people.

"The cooks made your favorite, blueberry pancakes," Sarah tells Valerie, pointing at a giant platter of blueberry pancakes strategically placed near Valerie for easy access.

"They look delicious," Valerie replies, offering her best happy smile to her aunt. This seems to satisfy Sarah because she nods happily and starts eating her food. Sarah Newlin has always tried to make her niece happy but Valerie has been very distant since she came to Dallas. Valerie stabs several pancakes with her fork and puts them on her plate. The sweet food reminds Valerie of her mother very much. The two of them used to make blueberry pancakes from scratch every Sunday before they went to church. Valerie would never forget the one morning that Lisa dropped a big sack of flour on the floor and it exploded, coating them all in the white powder.

"So Valerie," Steve says, pulling her out of the pleasant memory. "Sarah and I were planning on a barbeque this evening to get to know one our top rating soldiers of the sun."

"Who?" Valerie asks, stabbing at her food and refusing to look at Steve as he speaks.

"His name is Jason Stackhouse," Sarah answers.

"Oh, he's the one you guys are always talking about?" Valerie asks to no one in particular as she still stares down at her food.

"Indeed he is," Steve answers nodding at Valerie, "I believe that he has a lot to offer to our cause."

"Your cause," Valerie corrects, too quietly to be heard by anyone at the table.

"Yes he does," Sarah agrees with her husband, "I would really love for you to meet him."

"I already met him," Valerie explains, "he's nice."

"Oh," Sarah says, "when did you meet Jason?"

"Last night," Valerie tells her, "I went downstairs to get something to eat, he was down there watching TV, so we talked for a little," She looks up at Sarah and notices a slightly flustered expression on her face before it is quickly replaced by a smile.

"That's great," Steve says with a clap of his hands, "the barbeque will be at two o'clock so be sure to be here."

"Yeah okay," Valerie mutters in response.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: This is a pretty long chapter and I hope you like it. I'm debating over whether or not to make Christie a major character, and I would love some suggests so please review. Once again, thank you so much for all the favs and follows, it really means a lot to me. Enjoy!**

Valerie was dressed and ready for the barbeque. She is wearing one of her favorite tops, a plain black tank top with white music notes bunched into the corner. She also has on jean shorts and her usual pair of worn out black converse. Around her neck, Valerie wears her mother's silver cross necklace.

Valerie's phone begins buzzing and she sees that her friend Christie is calling. Christie was a party girl all the way. She had moved to Dallas two years ago from London to come and live with her cousin because her parents found out about her drug problem and wanted nothing to do with her. Christie's crazy behavior often gave people the wrong idea about her; she was actually a very nice person who would do anything for her friends.

When Valerie had lived in Pennsylvania, she had many friends and was actually quite popular in her school. Since the death of her mother and sister and Valerie's move to Texas, she has become a bit of a social pariah. She missed everything about her old life, even the negative aspects. Valerie would always be thankful to Christie for being one of her only genuine friends. The two had even signed up to go to a college in New York together.

"Hello," Valerie says as she picks up the phone.

"I'm on my way to your house pick you up, be ready in like three minutes!" Christie commands from the other end.

"Pick me up for what?" Valerie asks as she puts in her diamond stud earrings.

"We are hitting the mall, huge sales today and only today!" Christie excitedly explains.

"Sorry Chris but this isn't a good time," Valerie tells her friend quietly, not wanting anyone in the house to hear her conversation, "I've got this barbeque thing in like twenty minutes."

"Just get out of it," Christie nonchalantly suggests.

"Sarah's going to be pissed but okay," Valerie agrees.

"Yes, that's my girl!" Christie praises happily, "Meet me in the usual spot." With that they both hang up and Valerie gets ready for shopping. She grabs her favorite black leather handbag with the shoulder strap and packs her wallet, house keys, and her phone.

Valerie walks out into the hallway, creeps quietly past Steve's office where he sits behind his desk looking through paperwork, and she goes downstairs to the kitchen. Inside, Sarah is busy making preparations for the barbeque. Sarah has changed out of her pretty dress for something a bit more casual and suitable to the occasion. She is now wearing a sleeveless red flannel shirt, a black skirt, and cute red ballerina flats.

"Aunt Sarah," Valerie says from the door. Sarah turns away from the meat she is seasoning and smiles at her niece.

"My, don't you look pretty," Sarah compliments, regarding Valerie's outfit.

"Thanks," Valerie replies, walking leisurely over to the food, "this all looks great."

"Yeah it does," Sarah agrees, "I want this barbeque to be perfect,"

"About that," Valerie begins, "do you mind if I skip it?"

"Skip the barbeque, why would you want to do that?" Sarah asks in disbelief.

"Christie called and there's this special sale at the mall or something," she explains.

"Why are you always hanging around that girl?" Sarah demands, "I don't like that girl."

"You don't even know her," Valerie protests.

"I know that she has a drug addiction," Sarah retorts icily.

"It's not fair for you to judge her just based on that. You've never even really talked to her," Valerie argues angrily.

"I don't have to talk to her to know that she's trouble," Sarah stubbornly replies.

"She is the only friend I have out here," Valerie tells her.

"Well whose fault is that?" Sarah asks incredulously, "Ever since you moved in with Steve and me, you have just shut yourself off from the rest of the world."

"Well what do you expect?" Valerie practically shouts at her aunt, "Did you think I would just act like normal, as if nothing even happened?" Suddenly, Steve appears at the door wearing a stupid grin despite the obvious fight going on.

"Am I interrupting something?" He asks, his voice sounded like he was speaking to young children.

"No, I was just leaving," Valerie answers, still staring heatedly at her aunt. She marches to the door and shimmies past Steve who watches her walk away with a curious look on his face. Valerie storms out the front door without being stopped by anyone. Outside a group of the Fellowship of the Sun members jog around the house in perfect rhythm with each other. She makes eye contact with a few of the men but otherwise completely ignores them and keeps moving.

Finally reaching the main road, Valerie spots Christie in her cousin's beat up little green jeep. Christie has straight light blond hair that cascades perfectly down her back and thick bangs that cover her whole forehead. Her dazzling blue eyes are framed by Egyptian style eye makeup that she pulls off quite nicely. She wears a loose white tank top with an American flag design with a short jean skirt with black gladiator sandals. She has many different types of bracelets on her wrists, little feather earrings, and her long finger nails painted black.

"About time," Christie greets, happily waving at her friend.

"Hey Chris," Valerie mutters as she climbs into the passenger seat.

"What's wrong babe?" Christie asks, sensing her friend's sad mood.

"Nothing, just had a fight with my aunt," Valerie explains.

"Did you win?" Christie asks with a smile. Valerie furrows her eyebrows at her friend's odd question.

"Neither of us really won," Valerie answers.

"At least you didn't lose," Christie retorts, slipping on her shades. Valerie can't help but smile at her friend's optimistic attitude. Christie turns the key in the ignition and the jeep sputters in protest. "Come on baby don't fail me now," Christie coaxes at the car. It revs to live and begins to shake with power. "That's what I'm talking about!" The car pulls off the side of the road, leaving a cloud of dust behind them.

It was almost midnight when Christie arrived back at Valerie's house. The shopping day had been a great success, despite the feud that began between a sassy woman and Christie over the last of a beautiful blue dress at a store. After the exchange of a few unkind words and a lot of hair pulling, Christie was the victor and now proudly wore her prize.

"Cheers babe," Christie calls out to Valerie from her car. Valerie turns around, arms full of bags and waves at her friend with a smile. Christie's jeep backfires a few times before she is able to drive off.

As Valerie approaches her house, she notices that a few of the downstairs lights are on. With a sigh, she realizes that her aunt is probably downstairs waiting for her to get home, as usual. In a way, Valerie appreciated the way Sarah worried about her, but sometimes she was too protective and it became overwhelming. After all, Valerie was Sarah's last living blood relative, so Sarah's overprotectiveness was understandable. Valerie opens the front door and is surprised to see Sarah and Steve sitting on the living room couch talking. They both stand up and smile when they see her.

"Valerie, sweetheart, we have some great news," Sarah gushes, practically bouncing with excitement. Valerie furrows her brows and looks between Sarah and Steve with confusion.

"What happened?" Valerie inquires cautiously, closing the door behind her and placing her shopping bags on the ground.

"While you were gone, God sent us a message that we are on the right course," Steve tells her in his preaching voice.

"Um okay," Valerie replies.

"Come down to the basement and I'll explain," Steve says wrapping an arm around Valerie's shoulder and guiding her down the hall. Valerie gives a worried look to Sarah who gives her a supportive nod in return. Steve opens the door to the basement and motions for Valerie to walk ahead of him and she reluctantly obliges. "Now, I know this may be a bit frightening at first, but just know that you are not in any danger."

Valerie's breathe catches in her throat at the sight of the downstairs room. A handsome young man stands casually behind thick silver prison bars with only a plain looking bed in the room with him. He has neatly combed brown hair and gorgeous blue eyes that seem sorrowful. He has some strange looking black tattoos that are accentuated by his extremely pale skin. His clothes are plain, just a thin white button down shirt with matching pants and simple black shoes. He just stands there staring at Valerie with his sad eyes as she gawks at him in shock.

"Valerie, this is Godric," Steve introduces, both hands on her shoulders, "he's a vampire."

"Whoa, what the hell is this?" Valerie explodes. She spins around to face Steve, slapping his arms off of her. She grabs a chuck of her hair in both hands, in complete disbelief at what she is seeing, "Did you kidnap this man?"

"The lord delivered him to us as an act of providence," Steve tells her, outstretching his hands as if he is divine.

"Jesus Christ, Steve you sound insane! I can't believe you thought I would be happy about this!" Valerie exclaims waving her arms wildly, "This is a crime, you're a criminal."

"I am no criminal," Steve protests, his smile wavering slightly, "I am an instrument of God. My divine purpose is to eliminate the vampire race."

"Don't give me the divine purpose speech, you sound ridiculous!" Valerie shouts, sick of his crazy ideas and bizarre interpretations of the Bible. Her mother had always taught her that God was someone to be loved and praised. However, Steve preached that God wanted nothing more than the extinction of all vampires. "How could you possibly think that keeping a man prisoner in our basement is God's will?"

"This thing you see before you is not a man," Steve says, his smile disappears and is replaced by a scowl, "he is a spawn of the devil!"

"When did you even build this prison?" Valerie demands. She rarely went down to the basement but surely she would have noticed a big silver prison down here.

"We have had these plans for a long time," Steve answers vaguely.

"What plans?" Valerie cautiously asks cautiously, her heart filling with dread at what he will say in response.

"To have a ceremony in which we return one of his kind to hell where they belong," Steve ominously answers, his eyes dark with hate.

"You're going to kill him," Valerie's voice is barely a whisper. Her heart feels heavy with dread as she looks at the vampire behind the bars. He is still in the same position and stares at her in stony silence; his expression is a mixture of curiosity and grief.

"He is already dead, but when all the preparations are complete for the ceremony, he will meet the sun and his ultimate demise," Steve confirms. Valerie takes an unsteady step back, her chest tightens and she is having difficulty breathing. She looks up at Godric and her stomach lurches at the image of him burning in the sun.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Valerie whispers to Godric, who only cocks his head at her apology to him, "I have to get out of here." She clambers up the stairs, ignoring Steve calling her name as she bursts through the door and practically runs down the hall. She is about to go out the front door when Sarah grabs her ar.

"Valerie, where are you going?" Sarah asks concerned.

"Anywhere but here," Valerie answers angrily. She shakes Sarah's grip off and storms out the door, slamming it in her aunt's flabbergasted face. As Valerie stalks across the grass, she whips out her phone and calls Christie, not knowing what else to do.

"Miss me already?" Christie says from the other end.

"Where are you?" Valerie asks.

"I'm almost home, why?" Christie answers.

"Can you come pick me up, I need a place to stay tonight," Valerie answers with a sigh.

"What happened? Are you alright?" Christie asks, sounding genuinely worried.

"I'll explain in the car," Valerie tells her.

"Alright, I'm turning around now," Christie assures her, "be there in a bit."

"Thanks," Valerie says as she hangs up the phone. She approaches the side of the road and waits for Christie to arrive. As she stands there, Valerie tries to clear her head and figure out what she is going to do about the situation. There is no way she is just going to sit idly by while Sarah and her sadistic husband commit murder. But what can she possibly do to stop them.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Sarah asks suddenly. Valerie spins around and is surprised to find that her aunt followed her all the way to the road.

"I'm leaving, I can't stay in a house where there is a man living being held prisoner in the basement," Valerie responds.

"He is a _vampire_!" Sarah explains exasperatedly.

"But he's still a person," Valerie protests, shaking her head.

"Are you forgetting that vampires took your aunt Amber away from us?" Sarah demands, her eyes filling with tears.

"No, _a_ vampire killed Amber," Valerie corrects, "You can't blame an entire race on the crimes of one person."

"They aren't people Valerie!" Sarah retorts, "They are evil creatures of the night that will kill us all unless we fight back."

"We have coexisted with vampires for thousands of years before they came out of the coffin. Now we have Trublood and they don't have to live off human blood. The world is changing but you refuse to let go of your hate and anger. Do you think this is what Amber would have wanted, for you to be a hateful person plotting murder?"

"Everything I do is for Amber," Sarah shouts, her voice cracking slightly as a few tears escape her eyes and slide down her cheeks, "If I can't cause some kind of change then her death meant nothing."

Suddenly, Christie's car pulls up; blasting eighties rock and roll music. She lowers the music as she puts the car in park, then smiles at Valerie.

"Hi, Mrs. Newlin," Christie calls out to Sarah who just gives her an obviously disgusted look in return.

"I'm leaving," Valerie plainly states, "I hope you understand."

"I'm very disappointed in you," Sarah coldly replies, putting emphasis on the very.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Valerie whispers, turning away from her aunt and climbing into the passenger seat of the jeep. Christie winks at Sarah and turns up the music, just for the sake of pissing her off. They drive away in silence, Valerie crying silently and Christie keeping her eyes on the road, not wanting to press her friend with questions.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you very much for the reviews; I really appreciate all of the suggestions. Also, thanks for the favs and follows. I am going on vacation for three weeks so this might be the last chapter for a while so enjoy **

Valerie leans on the marble sink in Christie's bathroom and looks at her disheveled face in the mirror. She had wiped away her tears from earlier, smearing her eyeliner and now she looked like a raccoon. Her eyes and cheeks were still pink and puffy, even though she had washed her face with cold water. Her hair is looking pretty messy from the wind whipping it around during the car ride here in Christie's roofless jeep. With cold water dripping from her chin and her dark makeup running down her cheeks, Valerie looks like she is suffering from a major hangover.

She absentmindedly chews on her fingernails, a nasty habit she has developed since the death of her mother and sister. Some of her fingers are even raw at the tips from the constant abuse. Valerie continues to scrub her face until there is hardly any more makeup on her face and she does not look like such an emotional mess. She takes a deep breath and walks out into the kitchen where Christie is pouring iced tea.

"Want a glass?" Christie offers when she sees Valerie enter the room. Valerie nods in response, barely moving her head. She slides into a chair at the kitchen table as Christie places a cup of iced tea in front of her. Valerie takes a sip of her drink and raises her eyebrows at the extreme sweetness of the beverage.

"Wow, that's really sweet," Valerie comments, trying to sound polite.

"Yeah Tony made it," Christie replies, "He always adds way too much sugar." She drinks her own cup, obviously used to the overly sweet drink. Tony was Valerie's more mature cousin who took up most of the responsibility in the house.

"Oh," Valerie responds quietly. She was still thinking about the sad eyes of the vampire in the basement and she could not understand why they were affecting her so strongly. Even though she had never met Godric he seemed somehow familiar to her and he gave her a strange sense of comfort. She wanted nothing more than to simply talk to him, to learn about him, be his friend.

"So, do you feel like talking about what got you so upset?" Christie cautiously asks.

"When I got into the house Sarah and Steve said that they had some surprise for me," Valerie pauses and Christie nods, indicating for her to keep talking. Valerie sighs and takes a moment to think about how to explain the next part. "It turns out that the surprise is a vampire that they have in the basement."

"Wait what?" Christie exclaims her eyes wide in disbelief.

"Yeah they have this vampire guy in this big silver prison in the basement," Valerie confirms with a shake of her head. Even as she says the words, she cannot believe them.

"I can't believe it," Christie says, her brows furrowed as she stares at the floor, "Do you know his name, or how old he is?"

"His name is Godric," Valerie tells her, "I have no idea how old he really is but he looked pretty young to me."

"Jesus, I can't even believe this!" Christie's face is a mixture of complete confusion and anger, "What did Sarah and Steve say to you?"

"Steve just told me a bunch of crap about how he is God's instrument and stuff like that. And Sarah just tried to convince me that keeping a vampire in cage in our house is actually a good idea." Valerie vaguely explains. She cannot even remember all of the garbage that spewed from the mouths of Sarah and Steve.

"So what, are they just going to keep him forever?" Christie asks.

"No, Steve told me what he's planning and its way worse than that," Valerie answers quietly. The familiar feeling of nausea fills her stomach as she thinks about what her aunt and Steve are planning for Godric.

"What is it?" Christie asks matching Valerie's quiet tone.

"They are planning on killing him," Valerie tells her friend, eyes closed. She does not see the flabbergasted expression on Christie's face. Valerie feels dizzy at the image of Godric burning in the sun's rays. In her mind, his eyes remain beautiful and unmarred as his skin catches aflame and blisters.

"Oh my God," Christie whispers, "that's insane." Her words pull Valerie away from the violent images in her head.

"I know," Valerie agrees with her friend's awestruck reaction.

"I don't even know what to say." Christie mutters, leaning back in her chair.

"There's something else, it's kind of hard to explain," Valerie says.

"Try," Christie encourages.

"When I saw Godric, I felt something," She pauses and searches for the right words to say next, "It felt like I knew him, almost like we were connected somehow. I don't understand though because I've never even seen him before tonight."

"That's really freaky," Christie responds, not knowing what else to say. The two sit in silence, pondering what to do about the whole situation.

"I'm not going to let them kill him," Valerie says suddenly, her eyes determined. Christie gives her a surprised look in response. "I'm going to need your help." This causes a smile to creep across Christie's face and nods once in agreement.

That night, Valerie lay awake in a sleeping bag on the floor in Christie's room. She stares at the purple ceiling, lost in her thoughts. No matter how hard she tries, she cannot stop thinking about the fact that after tomorrow her life will never be the same. If Valerie is to ruin the plans of Sarah and Steve, it is safe to assume that she would no longer be welcome in their home. She was going to start college in two months so she could always stay with Christie until then. Despite all of the awful things Sarah was planning on doing, Valerie loved her. She did not want to turn her back on her last blood relative but there is no way Valerie can follow her aunt down this violent path.

More than anything, Valerie wished that her mother was here to help her through her problems. She always knew what to do in difficult situations and Valerie felt lost without her mother's guidance. She gripped the cross on her mother's necklace and put her fist to her heart. She took a deep breath and found comfort in the memories of her mother and sister. Valerie rolled over and closed her eyes, falling into a restless sleep.


End file.
